Awake
by OnceUponADeduction
Summary: "The secret of change is not to focus all your energy on fighting the old, but on building the new." - Socrates - Waking up in a foreign land, Miyako was just a lost child in a messed-up world. OC-centric fic, pairing not decided. (summary changed)
1. Chapter 1: Introduction

**UPDATED: 5th April**

Floating. It was a weird sensation to have. I am Miyako Hayashi, but I wasn't originally so. I was once a university student studying the culinary arts under one of the greatest chefs of the decade. My family was fairly decent; nothing too different from the others. It was ordinary, and that was the problem; it was too ordinary. I was just begging Murphy's law to occur when I was laughing and joking about everything being normal and that nothing would go wrong. "It's so…regular…" I clearly remember murmuring to myself on a warm summer's day, just a few hours before my death. I'll spare you the gory details, but that was about it. Then, I wound up here, in a place where the laws of gravity absolutely didn't apply.

Being reborn was, for lack of a better phrase, such a drag. At this rate, don't be surprised if I suddenly have powers to control shadows or something. It was a pain, knowing that I was an infant once again. It was hard to control my body; damn babies and their lack of movement. All I could do was cry and pretty much be a baby. I took a glance at the room around me. It was a rather spacious room with white, panelled walls. It was rather different to the rooms I remember having when I was still alive. Maybe I was transported back into time? I soon found out when I could hear and understand human speech. It was completely different from English, which was...interesting. It was Japanese, the language of my family. Funny thing - I didn't learn it. My father didn't let me. This was one of the times that I wished that I was my sister, who watched anime 24/7 and pretty much secretly learnt Japanese from anime and manga. Yes, she was a bit of a weaboo. I watched Naruto for a while when I was in my freshman year…I'm not too sure whether that would help me at all.

The next few months passed in a bit of a blaze, though I learnt how to move my hands as well as speak a bit, but it wasn't a lot. My mother, a beautiful woman, would sit in front of my crib. She would sing and clap my hands together and pinch my cheeks a lot. When my hair started to grow, she bought lots of little clips with cute flowers to place in it. When I cried, she would run right to me and held me, just from mother's instinct, knew exactly what I needed. I learned to love her, almost like my actual mother.

My father was very handsome. When he came home from long trips, he would bring back something for my mother and me. It was really easy thanks to the scrolls that he had. He was somehow able to fit an extremely delicate hair pin with threads of jewels drizzling down and a hand-crafted doll in his scroll. He showed me pictures of kunai and several other ninja items, which I indulged myself in. He would often laugh when I pointed at the long swords. He was definitely nicer than my old dad. I also loved him, much more than I did my other dad.

Before my first birthday, I was able to complete a string of words in Japanese and babble.

I laid in my crib, rolling around in the light peach-coloured blanket, giggling to myself or whatever the baby equivalent of giggling was. There were pictures of my family around and some of myself. I took after my mother, who had dead straight black hair. My father had a mousy brown shade instead. I had his dark eyes which glowed with a chestnut undertone. I loved the parents that I had now. My past parents were nice but I guessed that would never see them ever again. This is a new world and I have to move on, whether I liked it or not.

"Kazuki! HOW DARE YOU LEAVE HER ALONE?!"

I craned my chubby baby head to see my mother slam the door open. Her face was blazing red with anger, her knuckles white as the frantically looked around with eyes of a hawk. This was new.

"Not here…" she muttered and suddenly smiled as she saw my gasp of horror. "Hello Miyako-chan, did I disturb your sleep?"

It was freaky, how she changed her emotions so suddenly.

"Me fine thanks, kaa-chan …"

She smiled again and looked behind her to see my father who was scratching the back of his head.

"See, Satomi? She's fine?" My father grinned sheepishly, but it wasn't enough to sway my mother as she whacked him upside the head.

"We're in the middle of a war! We can't risk it!" my mother whisper-screeched.

"But— " My father attempted to speak, but was interrupted by my dearest mother.

"We have to know that she's our second chance! Remember what happened the first time?" she said, almost close to tears. She saw the forlorn look in my father's eyes and looked out of the window. What did she mean by the second time? What happened the first time? Am I not their first child? But there were no photos? I whined a bit and tossed in my blankets.

"But still, it's our home. We have chakra detectors and we'll never let her go to harm." My mother sighed, "You know, we're going to need to train her. It's a dangerous world out there and we can't just let her saunter around like nothing's happening. I—I mean, I know that we're going to miss her innocence, but if she takes one step into reality like that, she's not going to live."

Wait, chakra?

"Miyako's our child, she'll do fine," my father came and picked me up. I struggled to keep the fluffy blanket on myself and gave up when I was swung around rather swiftly.

"Blanket." I said, pouting and glaring at my father as he brought me up to his eye level. My mother let out a small chuckle.

"Maybe not yet…"

**A/N: Hi there, readers from around the globe. I'm Alex, and after a while on this website, I have decided to upload one of my stories. Tell me what you think in the reviews~ Thanks so much for reading! :)**


	2. Chapter 2: Realisation

This talk of chakra started to confuse me. I can recognise some aspects of it, but it was so far away. You know when something is hanging right in front of your nose but you can't seem to get it? That was how I felt. It didn't help that my parents kept me in the house most of the time. Everything never really clicked until a visitor came to my house.

"Miyako-chan! Come and see your aunty!" My mother's voice came from the other side of the house. I let out a breath and started to toddle across the smooth wooden floorboards. I really missed my previous motor skills from my previous life. I used to be able to jump hurdles really well…at least in middle school. Now, I could barely manage a walk without wobbling.

It took a while, but I found my way to the doorway where my mother was standing right in front. Behind her was a woman who I assumed was my aunty. She looked younger than my mother — possibly by a few years, but no more than a decade. Hmm...

"Is this your Miyako?" my aunt gushed, leaning down to my level and caressing my hair. I must say, that was one of the things I missed about being a child, having my hair petted.

"Well," My mother smiled teasingly, "She's Kazuki's as well." I glanced up to see my mother lift me into her arms. "Miya-chan, meet your aunty Kaoru-oba-san. She's the matriarch of the Hayashi clan."

Hang on—clan? Japanese setting…chakra…clans…wars… Gosh, I felt really stupid at the moment. I wasn't just reborn into any old world, but the world of my sister's favourite animanga series. Naruto. What did I ever do to deserve this? I internally groaned. Naruto was a brutal manga that I wasted the whole of my freshman year on. This was pathetic. Maybe I'll just wake up sometime and realise that this was a dream? Yes, that would be good. But through so many fanfictions, I know that it will never happen. Lovely, I'm stuck here in a world of dangerous ninjas where assassination seems to be the norm. My parents were correct — I wouldn't last a day out there with the abilities that I had now.

I think that my limited knowledge would help…somehow. A year of being stuck in a baby's body can take quite a large toll on your mentality and memory recall abilities. Pretty soon, I might not remember anything of my past life at all. How depressing. Oh well, back to the situation on hand...

"May-tree-ark?" I questioned. I knew what a matriarch was, but who in their right mind would say that to an almost one-year-old child and expect them to understand? If I just carried on, they might get the gist that something wasn't right and ship me off to special prodigy school or something like that. So I couldn't have just accepted that. Ha.

My mother seemed to have fallen for my act as she grinned.

"Little Miya-chan doesn't know what a matriarch is?"

I shook my head.

"A matriarch is a woman who is the head woman of a clan," My aunty said slowly to help me 'absorb' the knowledge. I nodded my head in 'understanding'.

"Kaoru ba-chan strong!" I grinned. My aunty pressed her hands to her cheek and squealed.

"Awww! Really? Does little Miya-chan think so?" I could see her blushing and spinning around in circles. She's our clan head? Yikes. I guess she's similar to Naruto's mother in the sense of personality. What was her name again? I think that it started with a K… Nevermind… From the corner of my eye, I could see my mother shaking her head and anime sweat-dropping.

I motioned for my mother to let me down and I waddled back to my father's study to play with the toy kunai that I left there at some point. Once my mother was out of sight, I grabbed the nearest book on my father's shelf and attempted to read. I didn't understand many of the words, but there was a diagram of a human body. Frowning, I flipped the book upside down and shook it. As per usual, sheets of paper flew out of the book. There were notes to grab the groceries, errand notes, mission notices, but one note stood out particularly to me. It was not written in Japanese, but in English. The piece of paper was tattered and torn in some places, but the writing in the middle was particularly untouched. My English was getting rusty, but I guess that living in a Japanese world for a year really takes a toll on you.

"I…am…Theodore…" I murmured. On the other side, there was a note saying 'Do not forget.'

I quickly looked around, making sure that my mother didn't hear me. I heard no footsteps, so I guess that sh—

"Miyako! What are you doing?"

I forgot…we're a part of a clan. Oh joy, my mother is a ninja.

I instantly dropped the note that was in my hands and turned around, not to see my mother's angry face, but a worried expression in its place. My aunt appeared behind her, puzzled.

"I thought the Eigo language was lost?"

Eigo — English! So the English language was apparent in this universe. I could reveal the fact that I knew English now, but it may be a bit too early. But do you know what this means? I could 'learn' English from my father's books. My mother sighed.

"It's a long story — I'll tell you another time. This is bad news." She then turned to me. "Miyako Hayashi, how did you learn so quickly?"

I shrugged. My mother narrowed her eyes.

"Don't tell me…"

It's been barely a year. I'm going to be disowned and kicked out of this village, or worse, executed. Every other character in fanfictions tended to survive at least until academy age, from memory. It's been nice knowing you all bu—

"…you're a prodigy!"

No. No. _No._ Dear mother, I am most certainly NOT a prodigy. I am NOT going to be shipped off to some academy to become a war machine, nor have my childhood taken away from me. No siree!

My mother frowned. "Maybe not, prodigies don't tend to develop characteristics at this age. It's probably just beginner's luck."

I breathed a sigh of relief. Even though she said that, I couldn't help but notice the fact that her eyebrows were furrowed and that her hands still rested on her hips. She wasn't through with this, I could tell.

They didn't leave me alone for the rest of the day and I found myself having a nap in my mother's lap. When I woke up, I found myself in my cot with my blanket around me. The moonlight shone through the window as I rolled over, again and again until I reached the edge of the crib. I leapt out and waddled to my father, who had just come home from work and was now seated at the kotatsu. Giving him a baby hug, I toddled to my mother and ate dinner with them. After that, I went to sleep. Being a baby is actually really stressful.

**A/N: Thank you all very much for reading the introduction chapter. As you can see, the chapters are growing larger. Actual Naruto characters will appear very soon, possibly in the next chapter. Thank you to those who added this story to their alerts and to Helen Teng for favouriting. **


	3. Chapter 3: Birthday Party

On my third birthday, October 1st, I had a gathering at my house. Aunt Kaoru made sure that it was elaborate. She didn't have a child of her own, so I was treated especially nice — which was good, in a way. Unfortunately, she was unable to attend due to having a mission in the land of the Rain, Amegakure. I didn't have any cousins yet so my aunt invited all of my other aunts and uncles, my grandparents, the elders and according to my mother, "special guests". I was half hoping that my family knew some cool ninja like the ones in canon.

Speaking of the canon story, I found out where we were. The Third Shinobi World War ended a month ago. I was pretty sure that Naruto was born sometime soon, meaning that his parents didn't have long to live. I have absolutely no abilities whatsoever and I can't get that good in a year or so. I learnt how to walk silently by focussing chakra to my feet, but what am I going to do with that? Sneak up quietly and then…. run for my life in the opposite direction? Too much effort.

I sighed and looked at myself in the mirror in my room. My ebony hair was gathered into two pigtails at the base of my neck and they were tied with two blue ribbons. I abhorred the colour pink and I made sure my parents knew…the hard way. The only shade of pink that I tolerated was the exception of peach. I wore a light blue floral yukata that was paired with a peach obi. A pendant in the shape of a moon hung around my neck. I heard a knock on the door and I was called out.

"Satomi-chan! Kazuki-san! Long time, no see!"

Wait…that voice sounded familiar. My head whirred and my body tingled with excitement. I knew this person from canon. I sprinted as fast as my chubby little legs allowed me to and slid to a stop at the front door. Remembering my manners, I walked forward and bowed to the visitors. Upon looking up, I saw my mother and father talking to two familiar faces and a mini one hiding behind his mother. They had their clan's signature black hair and black eyes combo. They were the heads of the Uchiha clan: Fugaku, Mikoto and Itachi.

"Fugaku-sama, Mikoto-chan, this is our daughter, Miyako," my mother smiled and nodded to me, then faced our guests, "It's getting cold, please come inside."

The adults sat down and chatted while Itachi was made to sit with me.

"You need to make friends, Miya-chan…" they said, "Otherwise, you'll end up as a loner when you get to the Academy. You don't want that, would you?"

Of course I didn't want to be a loner. I took out my notebook and started to draw. They were really scrappy drawings compared to what I used to draw in my previous life. On one page, I had a sushi roll and on the page before that, there was a fish. I started to draw dango on a stick, at which at this point, Itachi leaned over my shoulder to see what I was drawing.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked, shutting the book swiftly and sliding the pencil that I had in my pencil case. Itachi pretended that he wasn't looking and went back to staring at the wall. I nudged him.

"You're really quiet, did you know that?" I turned to look at him, only to be met with the sight of his profile. I waved my hand in front of him. When there was no response, I grinned toothily.

"Miyako Hayashi," I said, extending my hand, "What's your name?"

Itachi stared at my hand for a bit and then took it in his own.

"Itachi Uchiha," he replied, with a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Happy birthday — did you get any presents?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "Tou-san gave me a toy kunai set and Kaa-chan gave me some notebooks for drawing in. Kaoru-ba-chan gave me some new dresses, though one of them's pink." I jokingly made a disgusted face. "Do you know who else is coming? Because Kaoru-ba-chan kept everything a secret."

Itachi snuck a glance to where the adults were sitting. He mumbled something, but I didn't quite catch what he was saying. I raised an eyebrow in question. He looked over at the door, and right on cue, I heard someone knocking on the door. We stood up and ran to the door together. I couldn't reach the doorknob so he opened it for me. At the door stood the grand Hokage himself, the Yellow Flash of Konoha, Minato Namikaze and the Hot-Blooded Habanero, Kushina Uzumaki. My father ran to the door.

"Minato! Kushina-san! Come in, come in!" They walked in, not without Minato picking me up first. I smiled apologetically at Itachi, who didn't seem to mind as he made his way onto his mother's lap.

"So this is your daughter eh, Kazuki-san?" Minato ruffled my hair as he sat down in a chair next to my father. I giggled. Kushina squealed.

"Sato-chan! She's so cute!"

I blushed under all of the attention that I was getting. I was in the arms of the Hokage with some of the most important people of Konoha at my dining table, and they were here for my birthday. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Fugaku's eyes staring pointedly at the new visitors. All of the other clan members were talking between themselves. The elders were in some sort of meditative state. Kushina, Mikoto and my mother were having a really animated conversation about who-knows-what. Minato and Fugaku already knew each other — probably through their wives — but they didn't seem as involved in their conversations with my father. I wriggled a bit and was let down with a pat on my head. Itachi did the same and we were back on the floor, chatting. Our conversations ranged from our families to favourite games, to what we wanted to be when we grew up. He humoured me until the sun started to set, at which by this point, we had gotten bored of staying inside and went to lay on the porch near the pond.

"Hm…Miyako-chan, you're a sophisticated talker." Itachi noted.

"Same could be said for you," I countered, "I'm pretty sure 'soff-ist-i-cayt-ed' is a grown-ups word."

He chuckled slightly. "You're only three, but you talk like a seven-year-old. How?"

I forced a smile, but it faltered — this wasn't good. He was quick. I didn't like the way that this conversation was going.

"What's your favourite colour?"

I quickly changed the subject to avert any suspicions. Itachi raised an eyebrow and never answered.  
>After a while, I sighed and watched the Uchiha heir carefully. It was too risky — no one should know who I am. It would be unfair to tell him and not tell my parents, who I have known for my entire life in this world. I have only known him for merely a day — possibly less than that. I quote Frozen: "You can't marry a man you just met." I wasn't quite marrying him, but it's along the same line.<br>It was all silent, save for the breeze that was gently passing by and fluttering the leaves of the trees in our back garden. The crickets that were normally chirping at this time of the night were quiet.

"I can't help it." I confessed, semi-lying. Let's see how well this goes. "It's normal for me to talk like this."

I sat up cross-legged and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath in and exhaled, focusing on my breathing and the way it calmed me. I saw where Itachi was coming from. Which kind of three-year-old would talk like I was? Shaking my head, I pressed my palms together and imagined chakra flowing to the tips of my fingers. I imagined the blue of the chakra dancing around my hands, dipping and diving through my skin, flitting in and out of sight.

I felt two hands move my own into a different position.

"Your hands are too closed. Spread them out slightly so that it's easier for your chakra to move." I opened my eyes to see Itachi in front of me and nothing in my hands. "Relax a bit — nothing will work if you are too tense."

I tried again, taking in the advice that he gave me. Nothing happened. I could feel the chakra at my fingers, but it wasn't visible. Itachi attempted the chakra exercise and managed to get it on his third try. I felt slightly discouraged, but I repeated it again and again. I collapsed onto the wooden floor, panting. It was exhausting. I could see how Itachi was hailed as a prodigy. He pulled me up again, struggling a bit, but nevermind. He held my hands together in between his and I could feel him pushing his chakra into my system then making a light glow on my fingertips. I gasped in awe.

"It's so pretty!" My grin couldn't be erased as I kept the chakra circulating. In the dark, I could see our faces being illuminated by the faint glow of our hands. I could see Itachi's tiny smile, which warmed my heart a little. Goodness knows what happens in his home, with his father being the head of the Uchiha clan and all. As the heir, he must have been preened to be the best of the best. I felt a slight bit of pity for him, but kept it to myself.

"Miyako-chan, you've got it."

I looked back down at my hands, which were no longer supported by the two larger ones that were Itachi's. Blinking my eyes, I realised that it was not a trick of the light, but I was now independent. I played around with the luminescence that flared when I pushed more into it. A mischievous smirk crossed my face. The blue light continued to flicker like a flame as I chased Itachi around with it. He didn't make any unnecessary moves, only ducking or moving to the side when it got too close. He jumped out of my sight, and I darted around, trying to find him. I felt a gentle tap on my back. I flipped around and saw the sneaky little weasel with his chakra-infused hand.

"I'm going to get you for th—"

Poke.

Right in the middle of my forehead.

I was not amused, whatsoever. After seeing my fuming face, he chuckled, messed up my hair and dragged me back to the house, at which by that point, I was walking ahead of him. We snuck back into the house, where we were just in time for dinner. After a round of ramen, we had dessert. I remembered when Itachi was looking at my sketchbook and glanced up.

"Kaa-chan, Tou-san, can we have dango afterwards?"

My father grinned. "Of course! We can go to the night markets and see what's there!"

Well, this was going to be fun…

**A/N: Well hello~ Sorry for the late update; I had two essays, two tests and another assignment to study for/do. Yay for high school, I guess. On a brighter note, it's almost the holidays and then I'll be as free as a bird! :D Thanks for reading this... :)**

**Special Thanks to: BloodyBel, Elsen, fanfiction2010, FellMetal, Helen Teng, Littlebirdd, lizifang, Mr. Jay black and rockobroko for alerting, and Helen Teng, X-xx-SugarBerries-xx-X, aj13walker and kimmay94 for favouriting!  
>And this story was added to The Archive for Self Inserts and Original Characters! *whoop*<br>**

**I was thinking of making a Storybird for this story... Would you read it if I did?**


	4. Chapter 4: Return

~Chapter 4~

* * *

><p>Kushina and Minato decided to go home because of Hokage duties, or something or other. The rest of the clan retreated to their own houses to ready themselves for the next day. The six of us walked to the markets, with me skipping in front, pulling Itachi along as well. The lights were amazing and the smell of mouthwatering barbecue pork wafted through the streets. Amidst the noisy chatter and the sales people, a group of musicians were playing. The parents bought the dango at a stall (it turned out that some of the Uchiha teenagers were working there to earn money for new equipment) and we all wandered around. I gravitated towards the music instinctively. The melodies emitted from the smooth, wood-carved instruments felt metaphorically like honey in my ears, silky and soothing.<p>

Vague memories of high school flitted through my head. I remembered the horror of unfinished essays and horrible report cards. Along with these came the memories of music, before I became committed to food. I used to play the oboe for the school band. The sounds were similar, but in this world, everything was sweeter than I knew before in my previous life.

Life now was much more quieter than life before, quieter than life in the war. My father used to come home with deep gashes on his arms, legs and sides. Sometimes, he wouldn't return home for weeks on end. My mother used to cry, but she wouldn't let me see. I heard in the middle of the night, her sobs and sniffles but it was all hidden. It was the life of a shinobi. At one point, my father was admitted into hospital because he had broken his ankle so badly. He was prescribed with a full month out of service. That was the happiest that our family had been in the times of the war. I knew I was spacing out because Itachi poked me, not once, but twice.

"Miyako-chan, your parents and mine are going to the jewellery stall. We should go."

We kiddie-jogged to the stall that Itachi was talking about. There were beautiful necklaces, bracelets and bangles in assorted colours and also at very pretty prices. I gazed in awe at the different pendants. I pulled away from my parents to look at the different charms and beamed at the sight of ninja-themed jewellery. Upon searching around the stall, something caught my eye. On a rack, there was a pendant. I stared quizzically at it as I walked closer with Itachi in tow. It looked suspiciously like my own. The shop owner looked over and gazed into my own eyes. My chubby hands went to my chest and found that it wasn't there. I felt myself panic. 'Be calm,' I repeatedly told myself, 'Kaa-chan and Tou-chan can take care of it like adults.'

I staggered back and felt for Itachi's hand in the dark. In it, I traced out: "PENDANT MISSING" and pointed at myself, then at the sales rack. He nodded and we walked away to find the adults; they could handle it. We were merely children. It was disheartening, but it was the truth. In reality, if we were to attack, we would most likely be dead.

Suddenly, two rough hands pulled me back.

"What is a little girl like you doing here without her parents?" I turned and saw the owner of the stall. He pulled me back, breaking my hold on Itachi. I struggled against his strong grip as he hauled me over his shoulder. He put his hands in a formation and I felt my breath get sucked out of my chest as I shut my eyes in fear.

* * *

><p>There was darkness everywhere. I was abruptly dropped onto the stone floor on my bottom. A howl of pain erupted from my mouth as I attempted to pull myself upright.<p>

I screamed, tears dripping from my eyes. My attacker turned around with one eyebrow raised. He began to laugh.

His mouth formed a twisted smile. He stared me in the face, menacing face and all. I scrambled back on my arms and legs, until my back touched the cold, hard wall. "You know what? I hate your clan. I hate ALL of the clans." He sneered right in my face.

"..."

He grabbed my head in his hands and pressed it higher against the wall. My feet were dangling a metre in the air.

"The Hayashi Clan. Your fucking clan took away my ability to be a ninja. You see, your goddamned aunt and mother bullshitted their way into becoming ninjas while the rest of the fucking lot are stuck doing labour!" I could feel his spit flying into my face as he continued to yell. "The Uchiha, the Hyuuga…even the Inuzuka did it! But they just couldn't let one other student through! And don't get me started on your father. Oh, how I loathe him, that son of a bitch." It was silent for a while. I was dumbstruck by the fury that was emitted from his being. I was no longer crying but tears fell. His hands were shaking. I couldn't see anyone else in the room — or should I say, cave. I looked around, but saw no exit. Oh, how I longed for someone to come. If I were in my original body in my previous life, I would have been able to struggle out, but as a feeble toddler, there was nothing that I could do. My parents would have known about my disappearance soon. In a few moments, they would be searching for me. Would I be able to survive for that long?

I glanced upwards to see the angry eyes of the shop owner.

"You're going to die."

Well done Captain Obvious. I'd hope that my death would take place in about eighty days or so, but I don't think that's what you're thinking. He let go of my face and I landed in an awkward position, yowling. I was pretty sure my ankles were sprained, or worse, broken. I made a run for it. Whether you like it or not, angry guy, I'm not going to let myself be murdered when I was just reborn. No way. If I stay, I would My stout legs barely made ten steps forward when I fell in agony. My hands struggled to heave me up and I didn't even think about looking back. He was behind me; I knew.

"You dare to escape?"

I tried to drag myself out, but was pressed to the floor by the kunai that embedded themselves into my sleeves. This was it. He came closer, his steps becoming faster with each stride. A press at my neck was all it took for me to lose consciousness.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Breathe in.<strong>_

_Pity me, a young child who could do nothing in the face of danger._

_**Breathe out.**_

_I would be lucky to be still alive. _

_**Breathe in.**_

_Goodness knows what would happen when I wake up — _if _I wake up at all._

**_Breathe out._**

_It's time to rise._

* * *

><p>Pain. It was everywhere, unescapable, tugging at my consciousness. I felt ready to let go and return to sleep, until I heard the wails. It was comparable to the screech of a vulture. A faint beeping echoed. Several more followed. I regained control of my limbs and attempted to open my eyes. My dry throat ached — it was me who was screaming. There, in front of me, was the white ceiling of a hospital. The air smelt funny, like disinfectant. I struggled to get myself upright, but then I felt it — this wasn't my body…<p>

Correction: it was my body; it wasn't Miyako's body.

"Nami! You're alive!"

I faintly recognised the lady that was smothering me with an embrace as my mother. For a moment there, I almost forgot. I moved my hand to feel along my arm. There were wires connected to machines and tubes attached to bags of fluids that hanged from metal frames. A plaster ran from my elbow to midway down my lower arm. My good hand was left unscathed. Around my neck, a brace restricted my movement. I didn't want to think about what happened to my head. I moved the muscles in my face and felt pain searing through. Of course, there had to be bandages there as well. The lady released the hug — it was then that I had a good look at her. Her chocolate brown hair was greying and her eyes were glazed with concern.

"…I was so worried when we received the call from the university! We thought you were gone for good!"

If I hadn't experienced the past three years, I would be relieved to be back with my family. However, everything was different now.

"Mum," I paused for a moment, almost not recognising my own voice, "how long was I out for?"

"About….a month….? Why, honey?"

I shrugged and looked away. A month…I could have sworn it was longer than that… My mother smiled and walked away.

"If you need anything, I'll be in the left wing of the hospital; you know where to find me. Just tell the nurses first because, well….everyone thought you were dead. It was a bit of a shock when they found out."

The door shut with a click and I was left to myself. My eyes trailed around the room and I spotted a small book. _Naruto. _A smile graced my face as I was reminded of my sister. I missed the moments we had together. If only she could be able see what I had been living. An idea popped up. I pressed the intercom and asked for permission to leave my room. My request was approved, but a nurse had to assist me in getting out. Moments later, a nurse arrived with a wheelchair.

…a wheelchair?

I threw the sheets off and saw bandages encasing both of my legs. What even happened to me? Surprisingly, it didn't hurt as badly as I thought it would have been, but that all changed when I was hauled onto the wheelchair. The pressure initiated a new wave of pain localised in my knees which then spread to attack my lower leg. I winced and realised that my pain tolerance here was much less than the one in the other universe. I was detached from the machines after having a quick checkup. The nurse told me about where I could go and where I couldn't go in the hospital. After checking the clock, I realised that it was 3pm. My sister would be ending work now. I headed to the cafeteria for some food. Somehow, being under can make you really hungry.

My sister was Kana, a twenty-five-year-old anime addict. Every once in a while, she would attend some sort of of comic convention and cosplay. Sometimes, I was forced to join her, but it wasn't actually that bad. At one point, made me cosplay with her. I was Hinata and she, as the taller sibling, was Neji. I remembered that incident. Our father wasn't all smiles about Kana cross-dressing and scolded her, telling her that she should act lady-like and proper. There was a family argument that night, but Kana got her way. From then on, my sister had a very strained relationship with our father. It was fun all the while. We posed with many strangers and con-goers. After that, Kana continued to cosplay, both as female characters and male characters.

I arrived at the hospital cafeteria, a place that I was very familiar with. My father divorced my mother when I was in ninth grade. From then on, I would come to the hospital very regularly, as this is where my mother worked. Sometimes, she would take night shifts and we would stay at home, where my sister would supervise me as I cooked for the two of us. Sometimes, Kana would take nights at the pub to play and hopefully earn some money. My mother's job earns quite a lot, but we had to pay for the extensions to the house. Kana also has part-time jobs as an author and a manga illustrator. She lived her life doing what she liked and didn't care what our father said. He wanted both of us to have secure, high paying jobs such as being doctors, lawyers or even engineers. Kana and I did manage to find our way into having good jobs, but not in the way that he liked. He contacted us later to see how we were doing — well to see how I was doing. My father and I managed to maintain a stable relationship. I told him that I was studying the culinary arts and succeeding in the industry. He wasn't too upset about it, which was lucky. When I added that Kana was an a budding artist, he hung up the phone. I think this was a week before my supposed death. I shook my head and looked up.

"Kana?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I know I said that I would get a chapter up faster on the holidays, buuut... yeah, I have no excuse... I'm starting an art blog for a project that my friends and I are doing. I guess that is what's taking up all of my time... I'm not too happy with the confrontation between Miyako and the shop owner and I don't think you guys are either, but I like the end a bit more... This is going to lead to the main plotline and the whole reason why there are OCs in the story in the first place.**

**Thanks to KuroShiroNeko-chan, kanna-yamamoto, 3, tenshi0, Kurotiger, Rosezelene Ersa and lojenz for the new favourites (and all of you return favouriters - thanks to you too!), and Aferac, HoneyGrl, minhthu12-Present, setsunaxx, GetWithIt, tenshi0, Kurotiger and Rosezelene Ersa for alerting. (and to all of you old alerters - thanks!) And finally, thanks to X-xx-SugarBerries-xx-X and Littlebirdd for reviewing!**

**Heh...I think this authors note may be a bit too long so I'll cut it off now... Thanks for reading! **


	5. Chapter 5: Recovery

**IMPORTANT A/N AT THE BOTTOM...**

~Chapter 5~

_I shook my head and looked up._

_"Kana?__"_

My oh-so-brilliant sister waved me over. I pushed the wheels forward and stopped at the tables. She stood up and embraced me in a tight hug.

"Kana — too tight!"

"But you know I love you, Nami-chan! You're my favourite imouto!"

"…I'm your only imouto…."

"Exactly! Oh, by the way, you look horrible."

"You're so mean, nee-chan…"

She let me go and adjusted the chairs so I could move in next to her. She was so different. Her hair was shoulder length and was dyed a faded orange with golden tips. She wasn't in cosplay, and instead wore a blue sundress with a light cardigan. Kana never wore dresses…

"You've changed…" I attempted to start a conversation.

"Well, it's been two months, so…"

I looked at her, puzzled. As Kana caught my gaze, she covered her mouth, muttering under her breath.

"How about we get you some lunch?" she said, weaving away from the impending discussion. Sighing, I complied and we got me a hot soup while my sister continued with her chicken sandwich. I looked pointedly at her and she groaned.

"Fine…. Kaa-chan didn't want you to worry too much so she white-lied to you about your coma length. She told everyone else to as well, but I've never been that good at lying, so…." She grinned cheekily and took a bite out of her half-finished sandwich. "Do you want to know what you missed?"

"Sure…?" I sipped up a bit more of the hearty soup.

"Well…it's safe to say that Dad won't be anywhere near us…" Kana smirked. I almost spat out my soup.

"What do you mean….?" I dabbed at my mouth with a napkin. My sister just whistled innocently. "Kana…."

"What? It's not my fault that he found a girlfriend and moved well away from our country….." She pulled out her phone and flicked through a bit. "He never liked it when Kaa-chan tried to educate him or us on our heritage. Remember when he would stop the conversations about going back to Japan to meet our grandparents? And when — oh look, this is a picture of _her_…"

Upon bringing the phone closer to my face (I should have really brought my glasses….), I saw my father, a man who was pushing fifty, with a mop of greying blonde hair on his head. Next to him was a young woman, barely thirty, with fiery red hair and emerald green eyes. Somehow, I did not like the way that she looked at the camera. I guess I couldn't judge, as I didn't even know her.

"I don't like her very much…." Sighing, I gave her phone back and finished off my bowl of soup. Kana flicked through her phone for a bit and stopped abruptly, grinning from one ear to the other.

"Are you serious?!" She jumped up from her chair to show me the screen again. "Kishimoto released an extra side chapter about the Uchiha brothers! And there's a new character!"

Wait….new character? I flipped through the pages on her phone and froze. Not believing what I saw, I looked at the end. There was a small character profile: "Hayashi Miyako — Academy Student"

That little girl with black pigtails and dark eyes stared back at me with a warm smile. A knee-length navy dress with buttons adorned her small figure. She was a bit older than I remember being. Looking over the statistics, I realised that she was only six. That was three years from when I had left. I grew….that much? I handed the phone back to my sister and forced a smile.

"She looks cool…"

Kana gushed with happiness.

"I know! And she's so awesome — even without kekkei-genkai!" Her fingers flicked the screen once more and grinned. "She falls behind in taijutsu classes, but totally makes up for it with her badassery! She's not as good as Itachi though, but he's a friggin genius anyways…" She set her phone back on the table. "I can't wait for Kishi-sensei to update this mini-series… Miyako's gonna grow into a badass character…"

I gave a shaky laugh and leaned onto the table. "I guess Kishimoto is updating more frequently..." My sister's head shot up.

"Oh yeah, he is! Guess what — I'm working for him now!" Kana said excitedly, bounding up like a puppy.

"Right….hehe…" I averted my gaze. "About Miyako, I think there's something that you should know…."

It didn't take long for her smile to drop. My confused sister raised an eyebrow, leaning in closer.

"What do you mean? I was the creator — I know who she is…? I _created_ her….? I believe that the meaning of creator means that I created?"

I pressed my fingers to my temple; she would find out one way or another.

"Can we continue this in my hospital room?"

The walk back was quiet, save for Kana's jitters and the squeak of my wheelchair's wheels. Upon reaching my room, I turned around and I laid my hands on the sides of my wheelchair like Charles Xavier. Hey, I couldn't help it.

"Kana, please shut the door and have a se—"

"Nami….." She crossed her arms and stared at me intensely. I put my hands up.

"Fine, fine…" I sighed. "It may be hard to believe, but when I was in the coma…"

"No. Way."

"…I was somehow transported to the Naruto world — you know, the one that you're obsessed with."

Kana twiddled her fingers. "I guess I should own up to something, eh?"

This time, I raised an eyebrow. My sister laughed shakily.

"It's not as weird as yours, but I didn't actually get the job with Kishimoto. Well sorta….I won a competition for a new character to be included in the storyline. They allowed for me to visit Japan for a week and now I'm still in contact with all of them. Miyako was my creation, yes, but me getting a job there? No."

"…that was anti-climatic…" I sighed for the millionth time today. "I was expecting another reaction from you — like: "Prove it!" or something….."

"Can you prove it though?"

I frowned…. "Maybe?"

What could I do? Hmm...

"…Miyako has a pendant in the shape of a moon that she treasures with her life."

Yeah…that should do.

Kana smirked, putting a finger to her chin.

"Did you know that I modelled her character after you?"

Now, it was my turn to be shocked.

"Well then…" I whistled and looked out the window. What a beautiful day.

After a while, the nurse came in for a check-up and ushered my sister outside. I had my casts taken out and supports were used in place of all of them. It didn't seem too bad. It was only my face that was stuffed up. What the heck did they do to me? Once I was alone again, I saw my laptop on the side table. I opened it up. Wifi connection — check. I looked through the news and saw my face on the homepage of the website.

'COLLEGE STUDENT, AGE 21, IN COMA AFTER MYSTERIOUS ACCIDENT — Wednesday, 1st February 2012'

Wow, my disappearance caused that much of a commotion. I read on.

'Nami Kikashi, age 21, was found unconscious and bleeding on the sidewalk last Friday evening. Sources believe that she was on her way home from her first day at work in the famous restaurant, Opus. Colleague, friend and sous-chef of the restaurant, Sacha Fitzpatrick is now working with Nami's family to figure out what actually happened that night. CCTV cameras were mysteriously blank after the incident. Fitzpatrick, 29, was heartbroken after the the news was broken to her. "Nothing was off with her; it was really suspicious and sudden." She said this in a local interview with the press. Sayaka Kikashi, mother of Nami, would like anyone with information to come forward. Nami's father could not be contacted, and thus no information was acquired.'

I stopped reading afterwards. So I didn't die. I thought I did. I was pretty sure that when I was shoved to the ground and kicked and…

…that clearly was suspicious.

I refreshed the page.

'COMA PATIENT AWAKENS — Friday, 6th April 2012'

'After two long months, Nami Kikashi has risen from her coma. Nurses have stated that she is fairly stable and that her injuries, while not having healed themselves during the two-month period, are starting to improve. Doctors and forensics are investigating her case and attempting to find how she came to be like that. Family and friends are ecstatic that she is finally awake and would like to thank everyone who supported them throughout the entire ordeal. We are yet to see Nami in her up and going form, but we would like to have an interview with her very soon.'

I shut the laptop. Yay….press people…. I just noticed the table in the corner — there were mountains of sweets, cards, chocolates and flowers. Next to it was a mirror. I looked at myself. Shoulder-length black hair, neatly combed thanks to somebody — most likely my mother, and dark eyes were the main features of my face, save for the thick bandages and gauze. Hm…it was okay. Now, to get started.

Priority one: clean up a bit. I pulled all of my hair into a ponytail at the back of my head and rolled up my sleeves.

Priority two: check up. I felt something moving around me, like fluid, but also like air, and it wasn't blood. It was almost…soothing. It was definitely chakra.

Arms? Relatively okay…

Legs? Just fine. Can't move my ankles. Oh well…

Face? up

Everywhere else? Meh. Who cares? It's all screwed.

Mission: study up on Naruto. Goodness knows if I'd be going back, but this time, I really needed to know what would be happening. One of the things that was left on the table was a really nice notebook. I opened it up; it was one of those five-subject books. Score. On the front cover, I listed the titles that I needed. I held the pen in my right hand and marvelled at the way it fit perfectly. In neat print, I wrote Events, Protagonist Notes and Sketches, Antagonist Notes and Sketches, Village Notes, Misc.

…that was it, right?

Anyways, for the next week or so, it was generally really quiet. I spent my time writing notes as though I was cramming for a test — oh goody, the memories. People visited and the newspaper finally got that interview they wanted. Kana helped me with my mission, gathering notes and placing them into a tabbed folder.

It wasn't until I was discharged from the hospital that I noticed something off.

I stepped into the open air; something I hadn't done since I woke up. I felt the light autumn breeze grace my dry face. Kana had brought my favourite set of clothing. It was weird because I didn't grow. My hair didn't grow, I didn't gain or lose weight…it was though those 2 months didn't even pass in real life.

I touched my cheek. Yesterday, the nurses took off the full bandage and I was able to see my real face again. So, I was relatively back to normal, save for a wound on my forehead.

Then, it happened.

**A/N: **

**I am so sorry... You guys don't know how sorry I am... But yeah... so, _so_ sorry...**

**Okay, here we go. Yes, please don't bite my head off for not updating...Sacha's already done that for y'all... I would like to give you guys an option to have regular updates...but you'll need to wait a while. I'll write it all then just post it week by week? What do you guys think?**

**I received a whopping...16 faves and 33 alerts! I'm not going to list them all, but seriously, thanks so much! (it may not look like much, but it makes my heart fuzzy inside -w- ) And Awake was added to another community! :) **

**Now, we sorta get a feeling of why this story is called 'Awake'...**

**I want to clarify something: Nami and Kana have the same parents. Their mother, Sayaka is Japanese. Their father, however, is Western, but I haven't decided on his ethnicity yet. He's not a major player so...**

**By the way, Sacha (Miss WorldOfImagination) has uploaded a really good story called (Extra)Ordinary. If you want, you can check that out!**

**So yeah, catch ya later~**


	6. Chapter 6: Interesting

**Posted: 4th April 2015**

**Minor Updates: 5th April 2015**

**Awake: Chapter 6**

_Then, it happened._

Wham! Without any sign beforehand, I was tackled to the ground. What kind of sick idiot attacks an injured person? I kneed him in the crotch and took off, limping all the while. I frantically looked around, but there was hardly anyone on the streets. I grabbed the nearest person, who happened to be a businessperson.

"Please…help…I was attacked…" I said in between gasps. The stranger shook my hand off and continued on his way. I kept on running, stopping at an intersection. Leaning against the traffic light pole, I panted, wiping the sweat off my forehead. They've got to be far behind. I was not going to be put into another coma — this one already hurt like hell.

I heard fast footsteps that started to slow down from the opposite end of the street. I ran.

Left. Right. Left again.

The flap of my satchel bag wavered behind me in the wind as I tried to run. It definitely was not my fastest speed — not that I was the best runner anyways. I felt for my books. They were heavy like bricks. Oh well. I clutched my bag to my chest as I tried to enforce the laws of physics, leaning forward. I ran, not really paying attention to where I was running to. I found myself in an alleyway. Damn.

I saw two people in hoodies as I grasped at the wall. Nope. No secret door or anything. I turned to face them front on, adopting the facade of a confident person.

"Don't even try to act strong. We know who you are. You're a weak civilian."

Well there went that plan. I kept my calm demeanour, albeit my trembling hands.

"W-who are you?" I tried to even my voice, but it didn't seem to help. I had a good look at the two strangers. They both wore hoodies with dirt on their faces. They were probably just druggies from the streets, but that didn't exactly aid my case.

"Nunya."

"What?"

"Nunya-BUSINESS!"

Then right there, they both cracked up laughing. I tried to take the time to run away.

Whip!

I felt my legs be pulled under me and I was suddenly upside down. There was a tripwire that glinted mercilessly in the setting sun. Damn you, wire.

The blood rushed to my head and I felt nauseous.

"L-let me go or….I'll vomit on your face!"

They both raised an eyebrow….or I thought they did. You know, nothing looks right when you're upside down.

"Sorry, girlie. Leader's orders." One of them smirked as they wrapped a blindfold over my head. I thrashed and I punched, but I didn't get any reaction. I just felt myself falling back down and was roughly hauled over one of their shoulders.

They began to walk. What could I do?

Well, it was now or never.

I felt with my foot and I kicked, right in his stomach. He knelt over and I tried to get out. I didn't run very far before I slammed straight into a wall. When I looked through it, I realised that it was invisible. I poked it and saw blue substance surround my fingers. I pulled my finger away and took a step back, but the blue stayed. It was warm and cool at the same time, and felt strangely familiar. This was definitely chakra.

I turned around and saw the two men standing in front of me, but then everything froze. My eyes darted around my surroundings. The trees of the park rustled in the supposed light wind, but none of it could be felt where I was. The birds outside the barrier were flying, but the two men and I were stuck, frozen in place. A booming voice overhead resonated through the area.

"You two are dismissed. Payment shall be given to you at a later date."

With that, the men disappeared.

"And you...you interesting child." I sensed a hint of malice in his tone.

"What about me?" I retorted, attempting to walk out, but my legs wouldn't move.

"Have you heard of Theodore Fitzpatrick?"

I shook my head. Wait. I saw that in my dad's books…. Well…more like my Not-exactly-dad from the Narutoverse.

"He was also very interesting. Perhaps your little friend Sacha might know…."

Suddenly, Sacha's blonde hair flashed into view.

"What are you doing? Let me go this instant!" She was stuck, tied up in translucent blue strings. "What did you do to my brother?"

An amused cackle came from above.

"Well, well…what a rambunctious little lady you are. I assure you, your brother is safe….at least I think so." Another laugh, more irritating than the last. I struggled to get out, but my legs simply would not move. An idea popped into my mind. I flared my new-found chakra in my finger, just like how Itachi and I did back on my last day in the Narutoverse, and jabbed it into my right leg, disrupting the flow. I could suddenly move. I did the same to my other leg and ran to Sacha.

"Nami! What did you do?" She grinned as I lit up my finger like a blowtorch and disrupted the chakra strings. Heh.

"I have absolutely no idea!" I laughed victoriously, taking her hand and running off. I extended the flare to cover my entire hand and pressed it through the shield, this time with confidence and intent.

Nothing happened.

I banged my head against the barrier, sighing all the while. What to do…what to do…

"This is entertaining; you do realise that, right?" The voice was back.

"Do us a favour and shut up, will you?" That was Sacha, who pointed her middle finger to where she heard the voice. "Hope you can see this!"

"I can. I don't appreciate it though."

"What about….I. Don't. Care."

The voice sighed. "How about you can go back to your daily life and I can talk to dear little Nami alone?"

"Don't even get near her you b—"

She never got to finish her threat as she was zapped away.

"Where were we? Oh yes. You aren't the first to have traveled to this so-called Narutoverse." I kind of imagined this whoever they were to be looking at their nails nonchalantly. I attempted to stifle a laugh but it escaped. They didn't seem to notice.

"The first was Theodore, your friend's older brother. That was the first time that they offered a competition for people to submit the character of their dreams. Your friend, Sacha, was it? Yeah, that sounds right. She entered the competition and she won. Later, her brother fell into a coma, well, more like I took him. It was hard you know? He was a very strong-headed person — the job took forever to complete. And it was even harder to cover up his incident."

I just looked on in utter shock.

"What? Did you think that when you were looking for a job that it would be that easy? Sacha went looking for you. Your sister won the competition that very day and she knew — she knew that you wouldn't be safe. She went to help you, but well, she was too late." I could almost see their smirk. I didn't like it. "You fell into my little trap. You weren't as hard to extract; Theodore was more of a challenge. Hmm….those two men; Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber. They're like my little minions. They'll just obey my every word without any complaint. I guess money can entice any human into doing anything. But then you did something I didn't expect. You came back."

"W-who are you?" I stuttered out. My hands shook, my legs shook, my whole body shook. _What _was this person?

"And wouldn't you like to know? Let's make it a little game. If you find out who I am, you can choose your fate."

I ground my foot into the ground, determined. My strength flowed back into me and I looked up confidently.

"I guess that's a deal."

* * *

><p>I jerked back into reality. Feeling made its way back into my body. I felt the gentle hum of chakra that flowed through my body naturally.<p>

Then, there was beeping, screaming and I couldn't take it. When I woke up later, I heard a familiar voice ringing through my ears.

"Miyako! You're alive!"

What kind of deja-vu magic happened here? I was back in Miyako's body, that's for sure. It was sort of bittersweet. I had grown fond of this little family in Konoha, but I also loved Kana, my mum and Sacha back home. When I was researching, I had realised that all of the people that I have met while in this world were a bunch of extremely important characters. Minato and Kushina, the parents of the main character of this monster of a story. Itachi Uchiha, the prodigy who would later massacre his entire clan. Mikoto and Fugaku, parents of said prodigy and Sasuke, the boy who would grow to rival Naruto and defect to join Orochimaru. I don't know what possessed my aunt Kaoru to invite these people but now, I was stuck. stuck in the middle of everything.

More voices chattered as I refused to open my eyes. I knew where I was; the bloody hospital. I did not want to see yet another bleach-white room, never again. Never ever.

Well, it was sooner or later that I would 'wake up' officially. However, I was not greeted with the general white ceiling of the hospital. Instead, I saw the brown wood supports of an old Japanese house — wait, it was mine.

I jolted upright and bumped my forehead with another.

"Miyako-chan!" And then I saw the slightly older Itachi, much older than just 4 years old when I saw him last. "Satomi-san! Kazuki-san! She's awake!'

And then, my parents rushed in along with a little toddler who wobbled, much like I was when I was young. I stared at them, unable to speak.

"Kaa-chan…Tou-san…." I finally grabbed a hold of reality and leant forward to hug them both. They had aged a bit as well, with some new crinkles etching their way on my dad's face. I could feel their hot tears and I cried, mainly because of the emotion overload. The little toddler looked on in confusion. Very cute confusion, must I add.

"Mi-chan?"

….this little ball of utter cuteness was Sasuke? I almost squealed at his adorableness but then held myself back, reminding myself that this was the dude who would grow up to murder his brother and then pull a rampage on Konoha.

"And who are you?" I leaned down to pet his soft, fluffy- ahem, hair. Just hair. Itachi bent down and picked up Sasuke, who decided to grabble for my fingers.

"Me Sas'ke!" He pointed at himself proudly. My parents laughed and I giggled. Wait…I never giggled…how did I start….no. Not Sasuke. He will never convert me into one of his damned fangirls, no way in hell. I pulled back my blankets and tried to get out of bed. A cold breeze caused me to shiver a bit, bringing my arms to wrap around my shoulders. It was then that I felt my hair. It was really, really long.

"Gah!? What happened? How long was I—"

"Three years, Miyako-chan." Itachi answered, "I entered the Academy at the end of last year."

Wait, three years. If Sasuke is this old, then Fourth Hokage must be dead. It's such a shame. That must also mean that Naruto was born. But first things first, I had to do something about my hair. And then ask about the Academy. And I should comfort my parents as well….they seemed pretty shocked about the whole ordeal. My mother went out grocery shopping (at least that's what her note said) and my dad would be off to work. I stood in front of the full length mirror. I grew taller, that's for sure. My body was sick; I could see my bones. That wasn't good. My muscles felt weak, but still stronger than what I was back home.

With a pair of scissors in one hand, I traced out how much of my waist-length hair I wanted to cut off. I snipped through my thick hair and found a handful of hair laying innocently in my palm. This could be donated to some charity or something…. I'll think about that later.

"Miyako-chan? Sasuke's looking for— what did you do?" Itachi walked in and completely deadpanned at the monstrosity that was my hair now.

"Well…"

"Mi-chan hair!" Sasuke tottled in with his stubby legs and pointed energetically at the clump of hair in my hand. He puffed up his cheeks so_ adorably_…I could pinc— no. Bad Nami. No.

"Yes Sasuke-chan, I cut my hair!" I was about to kneel down and pick him up, but tried very hard to refrain. I put away the scissors only to have Itachi bring it back out again. He took out a chair and put it in front of the mirror.

"What exactly are you doing?" I took out a piece of string and tied the hair that was no longer on my head so that it didn't leave a mess. Itachi looked at me, held up the scissors and then looked back at the chair as if to—

"No." I deadpanned him back. "I'm not letting a seven year old— "

"Who is actually one year older than you."

"—cut my hair. Nope. No way. Nup."

A few minutes, several bribes and a deal later, I was in the chair and Itachi was cleaning up my hair.

"You know, if you mess up my hair, I will murder you." I sighed threateningly (is that a thing?) and looked at the mirror where Itachi was holding the scissors very amateur-ly. I instantly shut my eyes. I'm not watching this. Every time he cut, I winced. I knew I shouldn't, with Itachi being a prodigy and all, but it's frightening when you're a grown-ass woman in a six-year-old's body, having a seven year old cut your hair.

After about fifteen minutes, Itachi was done. I opened my eyes. I didn't know when Itachi became a master at hairdressing, but my hair didn't look half-bad.

"Itachi-kun….it's actually….pretty?" I was in utter awe. I turned one way, then the other, admiring his handiwork. It reached halfway down my back, but it wasn't too long or too short for that matter. I turned to him, beaming like the summer sun. "Thank you."

"Well, since it's done, I'll get the kitchen ready for your end of the deal." Itachi smiled and walked off, a happy Sasuke in tow.

I rubbed my hands. Cooking was one of my favourite things. Now what to make, what to make…

My mother walked in at this exact moment.

"Miyako! Who cut your hair?" She suddenly rushed to my side, hands prying through my hair. I loved the feel of her soft, motherly hands, rich with experience. It's almost as though I missed them.

"I did, then apparently, it was so bad that Itachi had to finish the job for me." I grinned, getting up from the stool. "Kaa-chan? Can you help me cook for Itachi?"

My mother just looked at me oddly, then nodded her head slowly.

"Yes…? Okay then, Miyako. I'll show you how to cook, for whatever reason you decided to…."

"Thank you!" I chirped, dragging my mother by her hand, "It's a part of a deal!"

When dinnertime came, the table was filled with bowls of rice, some teriyaki chicken, tempura and grilled fish. My father came home, kicking off his shoes at the door and taking off his flak jacket.

"Goodness, I seriously hate paperwork…I'm home, everyone!" He entered the kitchen, eyeing Itachi and me, who were washing the chopsticks, ready for dinner. "What has possessed you two to be doing housework? And Satomi! Helping them with this task?"

Said mother looked at him with a deadpan glare, one hand on her hip and a pot in the other hand. My father backed off, looking at me weirdly.

"Your hair, Miyako…is it different?"

I facepalmed, with my palm full of soap sud.

"Yes…? I cut it today, well more like Itachi cut it for me."

My father grinned. "Are you two….do you two…like each other?"

Itachi and I went completely pale. I just facepalmed again, getting more soap on my face and in my newly cut hair.

"No."

"Never! What are you thinking, Tou-san!"

It was at that point that my father just put two hands in the air and walked to the other side of the kitchen counter, safe from my mother and away from my facepalming. He hummed a song, pulling out a book as he started to read. Later, the Uchiha patriarch and matriarch came and we invited them for dinner. We sat around the round table, chatting and laughing...and just for that small fragment of time, everything was normal.

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><p><strong>AN: Hi guys~ I'm updating earlier than usual! Not only that, but this chapter is over 2750 words...in my defence, it just didn't know when to end. Well, it's a present for you guys, I guess. :P :) This chapter actually marks the 10 000 word mark... :D**

**So, it's the holidays here in Australia (well for public school students at least) and I have way too much time on my hands... I feel as though this story has more of a direction and I'm really happy about that. **

**(late) thanks to Littlebirdd and Rosezelene Erza who were the first people that I don't know IRL to review. :) Honestly, I was jumping up and down like an overexcited puppy when I saw them. Ask Sacha...she would know. :P And I'm seriously feeling your love with 40 follows and 20 faves?! I love all of you back! 3 Thank you so much! **

**Thanks for reading and catch ya next chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7: Academy

**Awake: Chapter 7**

"Delivery for Hayashi-san?"

I opened the door, marvelling at the fact that I could now reach the handle, and took the package. It felt a lot like a particular satchel bag.

"Yes! Thank you, whoever you are!" I hugged my bag close to my chest and squealed. The delivery man just took one look at me, raised an eyebrow, then walked away. I tore apart the paper wrapping and saw my brown satchel bag in all it's glory. Inside, there lay a certain five-subject book. There were other paraphernalia such as several pencils, tissues and my hair ties. At the very bottom of my bag, I found a few hair cuffs and clips, otherwise known as my favourite hair accessories. I clipped one side of my fringe with a hair cuff and clipped the hair in the back with one of those springy clips. The only difference was that it was extra long and did the job of having two clips on either side…in just one. Marvellous, ain't it?

I turned to look at myself in the mirror. Itachi's haircutting skills weren't that bad, if I don't say so myself. Looking down in my closet, I realised that none of my clothes fit me anymore. I sought my mother, who then gave me some of her old clothes that she hadn't yet thrown out. I dressed myself in a simple V-collared navy shirt with a long-sleeved mesh shirt underneath and cream shorts that reached to just above my knees. I felt a familiar necklace around my neck, the one that was stolen. Somehow, someone must have saved me and took back the pendant. I gave myself a once-over and was about to walk to the main room before I jolted back. This was very similar to Sasuke's outfit. Nope nope. I swapped the navy shirt for a green short-sleeved hoodie and smiled at the mirror. My mother knelt behind me, hands on my shoulders. I could see the pride in her eyes, but also a hint of reluctance.

Today was going to be my first day at the Academy, the start of a never ending ride into the land of murder. From now on, no one — not even my parents — would be able to look at me and see the true innocence inside. And the most horrible thing? It would only get worse. My mother knew — she was once an innocent girl standing at the gates of the Academy. Years later, and she was on the battlefields, slitting the throats of the enemy. It was necessary for me to become a kunoichi. I needed to change something, regardless of how small or big it was. At the humble age of six, I had the mindset of a 20-ish year old woman. I could think at fast paces, just as I needed to when I was taking orders or multitask. However, the most that I needed to worry about back then was whether the fish was overcooked or if the customer was happy. I guess being a ninja was sort of like that. You had to please your leaders and make sure that the job was done right.

"Miyako, how are you feeling?" My mother's eyes were trained on mine, searching my face for any signs of worry. I nodded and smiled, albeit the negative image the Academy had on me. Maybe I could make some friends and that could lessen the pain that my future gave me. I'd like to think that I would live past twenty, possibly thirty if I was lucky.

"Ne, kaa-chan, if I want to become an awesome kunoichi like you, I have to go through school! And if that's what I have to do, I'll do it!"

A pained expression flashed itself across her face, but was soon replaced by a smile.

"Just enjoy the ride — school will be boring, but only if you choose for it to be. Make the most of it!" _'—before it gets worse'_ was left unsaid. I tackle-hugged my mother as she pulled out a certain necklace, clasping it around my neck. "You'll be fine."

-x-

Saying that the academy was huge was an understatement. However, it was still being reconstructed. I checked my watch — it was only 7:30 but my mother insisted on being early. She was off chatting to one of the older teachers and I felt a calloused hand on my head. My father was there, with a cup of coffee in one hand. Not surprisingly, he was in ninja garb.

"Tou-san!" I suddenly turned to hug his legs. "I thought you had a mission!"

He chuckled and messed up my hair. "Yeah, but I won't let a silly paper run stop me from seeing my daughter's Academy orientation."

Grinning, I checked my bag. I packed a set of scrolls, some notebooks and several pencils. The five-subject book was way too heavy for me to carry so I left it in the very corner of my closet. My sketch book from when I was three was still there. I ripped out the old pages and stuffed them into the bottom of the bag. I could finally start anew. Since it was an ungodly hour, barely anyone was in the vicinity. I, however, did see Itachi talking to another Uchiha boy next to the doors. I decided against bothering them. There were several kids playing tag around the courtyard and another few chatting animatedly as their parents talked to each other. I saw a girl who was sitting alone with three dogs surrounding her. My father went to join my mother in talking with the teachers. I however, went to see the girl.

When I looked back, she wasn't alone. There were people surrounding her and there was a lot of yelling. I nudged my way to the front.

"Dog-face!"

"Bitch! Well, at least that's true!"

I ran to shield the girl, who actually seemed unfazed by the insults that she received.

"Why are you calling her mean names?" I yelled back. Everyone ignored me. "Hello?" Ignored again. "Excuse me?" Sigh….ignored.

I felt a tug at my shirt sleeve. Looking down, I saw the girl smirk.

"They can make fun of me and my family all they like. When school starts, I'll beat all of them!" A wolfish grin made it's way on her face. "See whether they talk like that then! Name's Hana Inuzuka and these are my dogs, the Haimaru Brothers."

I smiled back, extending my hand. "I'm Miyako Hayashi, nice to meet you!" Taking my hand, she stood up. _Thunk_. A shoe hit me on the head and that was when I had enough.

"Right that's it!" I screeched, finally silencing the other kids. I probably shouldn't have, when I realised that they were all at least three years older than me. Lovely, now all the kids in my class knew me, for all the wrong reasons.

"What are you doing? Get away from the dog-brat! Her stupidity is con-gi-us!" A boy shoved me to the side and lunged for Hana. She blocked his attack without any effort and flipped him over.

"I think the one who's stupid is you." Hana deadpanned, grabbed my hand and walked off with the Haimaru Brothers in tow. The little scramble attracted attention from the others around us.

"Miyako-chan? What's going on?" Itachi asked, concerned. I had a good look at the other Uchiha boy. He had short wavy black hair and dark eyes, typical of the Uchiha clan. Shrugging, I replied.

"People were teasing Hana-chan and she took care of them." I grinned back at Hana, who smirked back. "Itachi-kun, meet Hana-chan. Hana-chan, this is Itachi-kun."

They gave each other a nod, as clan people usually did. I didn't get into the whole stoic formalities, regardless of how many times my elders have tried to teach me. I could be lady-like, yes, but having a stick up my ass…not my type. The boy with Itachi — that had to be Shisui Uchiha, no doubt about it. He would be dead in a few years. Six, to be exact. In six years, sweet, dear little -cough- ahem, Sasuke, will be forced through seeing his clansmen all die at the hands of his own brother. My eyes looked over at the would-be offender. He was loyal, prodigious. The perfect shinobi, but at what price?

"Oh, Miyako-chan, Hana-san; this is Shisui, my cousin."

Said cousin waved with a grin. "Nice to meet ya!"

Yep…nowhere as stuck-up as other Uchihas. I liked him instantly. We walked together in a mini gang and from then on, none of those bullies came to annoy us. Mainly because Itachi and Shisui were with us, but let's not fan their ego flame. I checked my watch: 8:00. The newbies gathered around the entrance but Itachi and Shisui walked away.

"But…aren't you going to stay?"

They turned around. "Silly Miya-chan! We've already been here for a year!" I waved them off and saw my parents talking to a woman — Tsume Inuzuka, who happened to be Hana's mother. We all stood together and saw the Hokage, Sarutobi-sama, who addressed us all. I could see that most of the new Academy students didn't actually listen to what he was saying. Still, he caught my attention. I tuned out at some parts, but there was one part that really hit me.

"You only get one life. There's no need to choose an impossible path. It's fine to live as long as you like and die. However… protecting a precious person… you must not forget this no matter what path you choose."

This was our future. Kill or see others be killed. Or even, get killed yourself. Then, the Hokage stepped down from the podium and a chuunin teacher read out from a roll.

"Aburame Shiba, Akimichi Chouko…." I tuned out again. Students began to raise their hands when their name was called. There weren't that many students in our class. "…Hayashi Miyako…" I raised my hand. "Hyuuga Itsuki, Inuzuka Hana…" Hana raised her own. We grinned at each other. This was going to be exciting.

* * *

><p>It was not exciting. We sat in the classroom and I realised that this was just a repeat of elementary school back in the real world. I slammed my head on the table while Hana looked at me concerned.<p>

"Ya okay there?"

I shook my head, face still attached to the wooden table. It was barely two lessons in and I was already bored. All we did was learn about history and math. Our sensei was Osamu-sensei, the most unenthusiastic teacher I had ever seen in both my lives. I also saw Shiranui-sensei. Yes, that Genma Shiranui. I wish I could have him as a teacher — he looked a tad bit more enthusiastic. Whichever class he took would be a lucky class.

A hard rap at the whiteboard signalled the start of the next lesson: writing. We went through several kanji and had to memorise them. It wasn't as hard, considering most of the class was around seven or eight. Of course, there were the numbers. 一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十.

"Ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, kyuu, juu!" we chorused, imitating our teacher.

After another hour of writing, lunch came. Hana and I played with the Haimaru Brothers. Well, it was more like me fawning over them and Hana laughing.

"But they're so cute!" I squealed, pressing my face against their soft fur. Hana rolled her eyes, laughing and we sat down under a tree for lunch. We both had bento boxes full to the brim with food, much more than we could actually eat. About a few minutes later, all three of the puppies were absolutely stuffed. I took out my notebook full of the homework that we had thanks to the most boring teacher ever.

"Might as well finish it, ne?" I answered Hana's confused expression. "It means more playtime later….and maybe we can even start shuriken practice!"

With that, her face brightened up.

"Why didn't I think of that? You can come over to my place! Kaa-san will have heaps of shuriken and we have a clan practice ground!"

We had our pencils on the paper, finishing lines and lines of sums, and reading through the first chapter of _The Official History of Konohagakure. _By the time the bell rang, we had finished our homework and the extension for the first half of the day. Next, we had the Ninja Talk. It was mainly for the civilian ninja-wannabes, but it was interesting to listen to.

"You see, there is something inside you, and that is called chakra. Chakra is found in every living being and it's in you, otherwise you wouldn't be alive!" Of course, we had a different sensei give us the talk. Osamu-sensei wouldn't be this exciting. The day I see him excited would be the day that pigs fly.

Hana and I tuned out a bit, like usual. It was lucky for us that we were sitting near the back and near the window, otherwise we would have been caught a long time ago. We were drawing on our notebooks and writing notes to each other. Osamu-sensei was too boring to notice us anyways. _Plop! _A paper ball landed on our desk. I unravelled it with Hana leaning over my shoulder.

_Aren't you meant to be paying attention? _

_-I&S_

The window was open and there were people outside having their break — the older classes had a different break time to us. We continued to draw, ignoring the message. _Plop! _This time, the note ball landed on my head. Irritated, I pressed it flat, smoothing out the edges to read what it said.

_Did you seriously not understand what we sent you?_

I mumbled something incoherent under my breath as I hastily wrote another note and Hana dropped it out the window, hoping that it would hit them on their head or something.

_How are we supposed to concentrate with paper balls flying at our heads?_

_-M&H_

I thought that I could hear Shisui's laugh from the second-floor window. Must have been hallucinating. _Plop! _This time, Hana hissed, grabbing the pen in my hand and scrawling something before throwing it full force at what must have been Shisui's head. It had to have been chakra-infused because when I looked out, Shisui was keeling over in pain and Itachi was chuckling. He wrote something and it landed gracefully on our table.

_Good shot. Not sure what the note said, but Shisui seems hurt._

_-I_

Shisui wrote something before throwing back Hana's note, hitting her in the side of her head. I read the previous note before stifling a laugh at Hana's comment.

_I dunno, something? I know we're attractive and all, but no need to waste your lesson on us… ;)_

_-S_

_NO WAY WOULD YOU EVER BE ATTRACTIVE, YOU UCHIHA PRICK!_

_-THE PERSON WHO WILL KICK YOUR ASS AFTER SCHOOL!_

_I'm hurt…._

_-S_

_P.S: I'm in a higher class than you; I'll be kicking your ass. :P_

With a huff, Hana stuck her tongue out and closed the window. They didn't bother us after that, though I was silently giggling my face off and Hana's face went bright red, mumbling something along the lines of 'stupid Uchiha thinks he's hot…stupid Uchiha thinks _I_ think he's hot….idiot….' followed by a series of growls. I, however, tried to listen to what the chuunin instructor was trying to say, before realising that everyone were led outside for a demonstration. Shaking Hana out of her stupor, we ran to catch up with the chuunin. By now, the older classes were back in class and everyone was behind the chuunin.

"Right, this is a jutsu that you can learn. It's called the Clone Technique." The chuunin demonstrated, causing an exact copy of himself to appear beside him. "You can't touch it, but it's good for distracting the enemy. The seals for this are Ram to Snake to Tiger."

I probably should have listened to the teacher while Itachi and Shisui were annoying us because I had no idea how to do the hand seals at all. The Hyuuga boy was able to complete it within a few tries. Hana was able to make a hazy version of it, but I absolutely sucked.

"Feel the clone….be the clone…." I hissed, feeling beads of sweat break out on my forehead. I could feel my eyebrows furrow in stress.

"Ya know…if you keep on doing that, you're gonna look like you're 80 in a few minutes." Hana smirked, perfecting her own clone.

"Haha…" My voice dripped with sarcasm as I sat on the grass. "Very funny."

Holding my fingers into the starting hand seal that I copied from Hana, I progressed through the series, ending with the Tiger seal.

"Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Next to me was a dying copy of myself. I instantly jumped back and it dispelled.

"Argh! Hana-chan save me!" I hugged her around her shoulders as I cried dramatically. She shook me off, facepalming all the while.

The chuunin instructor coughed to get our attention and all of us looked to see what he would say next.

"I don't expect you all to perfect it within the first day, but you still have the next few years at least to get it right!"

Then, we had a small break.

"Why can't I do the stupid clone jutsu?!" I whined, punching the tree. Seconds later, I was nursing my very sore left hand.

"I dunno, but you probably shouldn't have done that…" Hana grabbed out a roll of gauze, wrapping it around my hand. "You do realise that we have taijutsu next, right?"

I slammed my head back into the tree.

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><p><strong>AN: Hello everyone~ I'm back within the week like I told y'all~~ xD Seriously, gotta love the holidays :P**

**Anyways, thanks to Pleasereadmything, Miss WorldOfImagination and Rosezelene Ersa for reviewing~ :D**

**Probs need to go to bed now, but yeah…**

**Thank you so much for reading! I'm reaching close to 2000 views and your faves/alerts make me feel so happy!**

**Notes: My timeline is stuffed up. Seriously. I might post some of my planning sheets if you want them…to make sense of the timing and stuff. And….I also have character sketches so if you want them, I'll post them on DeviantART. (User: cherry-the-awesome.)**

**Oh, and I changed the summary. :) It really sucked before...I think...what do you guys think?**

**Sayonara~~**


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